We are facing a new challenge, where some individuals, are seeking to erode trust in public institutions by spreading campaigns of misinformation that dishonestly attack the practices and the people in these institutions.

A crisis, however manufactured, cannot go to waste. She goes on:

Of course, we don’t have the right not to be offended; however the question is: how do we respond to untruths that go unchecked? What do we do when editorial boards and parliamentarians innocently repeat inaccurate information? In short, how does an administrative tribunal or agency manage its reputation in the face of misinformation, personal attacks and innuendo?

This is a serious concern. The public’s respect for an institution – and by default its legitimacy – is inextricably linked to its ability to provide the most vulnerable with access to justice.

[…]

The Commission has seen this first hand. We have spent considerable energy trying to repair our reputation after bloggers – who misrepresented the Commission and the administrative justice system as a whole – were able to influence the tone of the discussion.

Lynch goes on to lay out the CHRC’s strategy to regain the public trust. This includes:

1) Submitting reports to parliament that reprimands them for not taking the CHRC’s side

2) Bullying journalists

3) Navel-gazing with sympathetic organizations so they can avoid criticism.

Ezra Levant also took notice of the speech and pointed out that one of the “sympathetic organizations” named is the anti-Semitic Canadian Islamic Congress.

Second: There’s one more strategy that Lynch is using to sway public opinion – that she neglected to mention in her speech. Get lawyers who are enriched by the Commission to write op-eds in the CHRC’s defence! Kiss the hand that feeds!

Third: You know that the common understanding of human rights has significantly devolved when you read statements like this:

Opponents of human rights like to point out individual rights are more important.

Evolution

Like virtually all other virtual things, The Lynch Mob is a not a static object. In fact, one of the earliest things to change was the name itself. This site started out as The Lynch Files - a couple of days later it was called The Lynch Mob. Same blog, different name. During a sabbatical taken by founder Walker Morrow, others stepped up to keep the blog running and continue to hold the feet of CHRC commissioner Jennifer Lynch - and all her provincial counterparts - to the fire.